What Proves Legal Ownership?

[melzawelza]

The NSW Companion Animals Act has this to say about ownership:

7 Meaning of “owner”

(1) Each of the following persons is the owner of a companion animal for the purposes of this Act:

(a) the owner of the animal (in the sense of being the owner of the animal as personal property),

(b) the person by whom the animal is ordinarily kept,

© the registered owner of the animal.

(2) A reference in this Act to the owner of a companion animal is a reference to each and all owners of the animal.

Note. A provision of this Act that makes the owner of a companion animal guilty of an offence makes each owner guilty of the offence.

(3), (4) (Repealed)

(5) When a companion animal is ordinarily kept by an employee on behalf of his or her employer, the animal is for the purposes of this Act taken to be ordinarily kept by the employer and not the employee. This subsection does not prevent an employee being the registered owner of an animal and does not prevent the employee being an owner if the employee is the registered owner.

(6) In any prosecution of the owner of a companion animal for an offence against this Act it is a defence if the defendant establishes that:

(a) another owner of the animal has been convicted of an offence arising out of the same circumstances, or the commission by another owner of the animal of an offence arising out of the same circumstances has been proved but a court has made an order under section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 in respect of the offence, or

(b) another owner of the animal has paid the amount of the penalty prescribed under section 92 (Penalty notices) for an alleged offence arising out of the same circumstances.

This is only in relation to functions under the Act though - so things like dog attacks, barking dogs, off leash dogs, who is able to collect the dog from the pound etc...

If it was a civil property dispute the above may be considered but there would be many other things likely to be brought into it (things like others have said - vet bills, food bills etc) and I would imagine it would really be on a case by case basis.